Star Wars: The Mandalorian – Chapter 9 Review
The second season of the smash-hit Disney+ show, Star Wars: The Mandalorian, has returned and it comes back with a bang.
Picking up straight after the events of the last season, Mando is trying to track down other Mandalorian’s to help him in his quest to take “The Child” to his own kind.
The opening scene takes place in an underground fighting arena, where we see some Gamorreans fighting it out (they are the big green pig type guards from Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi). This is a fantastic opening scene since it is filled with action and a little humour. One thing I did spot was lots of graffiti, which may hopefully be a small clue to if the Star Wars Rebels character, Sabine Wren joins the show, which has been rumoured.
From here, the show quickly takes Mando and Baby Yoda to Tatooine, where he begins his hunt for help, leading him to the town of Mos Pelgo. Where he rides into town like a cowboy. There is little doubt that the director Jon Favreau has taken plenty of ideas of a samurai western and incorporated it into this episode. Especially with him teaming up the local sheriff (Cobb Vanth) to deal with a massive sand-dwelling dragon that keeps attacking the town. The special effects of this creature were very impressive, something you would expect from a major summer blockbuster, not just a “streaming” show!
I absolutely loved this episode, there are now many more connections to the larger Star Wars universe, especially with the setting on Tatooine as we get to see the instant power vacuum caused with the destruction of the second Death Star and just getting to see more of the Tatoonie natives such as the Jawas and Tuskan Raiders.
The addition of Timothy Olyphant as local marshall, Cobb Vanth, is a welcome one since, without a buddy or sidekick, there isn’t a whole lot of talking going on between Mando and “The Child”. I really enjoyed Cobb Vanth in this, especially since him wearing Boba Fett’s Mandalorian armour adds so many questions to the show, while also giving us more recognisable visual links to the Star Wars films. I also liked how they did a flashback to how he got the suit, rather than just a throwaway line.
Seeing the two of them flying through the air with their jetpacks, taking on a massive dragon is just a lot of fun. This episode comes in at almost an hour and it flew by since I was enjoying it so much. Now we’ve just got to wait a week for the next instalment. Which is even harder after the small tease of a returning character, who will no doubt be a major aspect to this episode.
One aspect I did like about this episode, was the lack of focus on “The Child”, he was always there in the background and had a few fun little moments, but this episode wasn’t about him. Cobb Vanth or the Tuskan Raiders weren’t interested in him, which was refreshing since the first season was so heavily focused on everyone trying to capture him.
Getting up early on a Friday morning to watch the latest episode of Star Wars: The Mandalorian is going to be something I do each week and it makes me feel like a kid again. The series just brings so much joy, because its a love letter to Star Wars, it knows how to tug on those nostalgia cords and deliver a very enjoyable episode. I loved every minute of it!
Rating 5 out of 5